Postulant Iliana Maldonado sits near a statue of St. Francis outside the Monastery of St. Veronica Giuliani in Wilmington, Del.

WASHINGTON (CNS)—Up until a few weeks ago, Iliana Maldonado was a typical 20-something in the U.S.

She had a steady job and income. On her days off, she went out with
friends her age, regularly posting and commenting on Facebook from a
Samsung Galaxy smartphone that she rarely left behind.

But there was something more attractive to her than the smartphone and
her group of friends. A man had entered her life. That man was St.
Francis of Assisi.

These days, the 21-year-old is experimenting living in a community of
cloistered nuns in a Wilmington, Del., convent, embracing the life of
poverty, service and community that St. Francis and his followers,
including St. Clare, began in the 12th century.

If all goes as planned, she will one day be a religious sister like the
rest. Her life now means no money, no cellphone, no car, no night out
with her friends—only a series of prayers, manual labor, and
instruction about the Franciscan way of life as a postulant with the
Poor Clare sisters at the Monastery of St. Veronica Giuliani.

It is a vastly different way of life from the one most of us live, but
it is not surprising that people today still choose to follow the more
austere way of Francis, said Franciscan Father Larry Dunham, guardian of
the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington.
Those who choose to follow St. Francis aim for lives of simplicity, with
few material goods, an emphasis on serving others, communal prayer and
fraternal brotherhood with God at the center.

Even though he died in 1226 and was canonized 1228, St. Francis and the charism he championed casts a long shadow in our time.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio embraced, not just Francis' name when he
became pope this year, but also what the saint stood for. He bypassed
the more luxurious papal digs at the Vatican and went to live in the
nearby, simpler guesthouse where he could live near others, pray and
interact with them. Like St. Francis, he speaks every chance he gets
about the poor and tries to be inclusive of all—even nonbelievers.

In interviews about why he took Francis' name, the pope said he thought
of the Italian saint when Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes embraced him
and whispered, "Don't forget the poor," during conclave.

By choosing Francis as his name, Cardinal Bergoglio called much
attention to "el poverello de Asis," or the poor man from Assisi, and
what he and his followers stood for besides their love for animals and
nature.

At the center is embracing a life of poverty for the riches of the
kingdom of God. But when St. Francis spoke of embracing poverty, he
wasn't just addressing getting rid of the material, Father Dunham said.
Poverty meant getting rid of anything that harms us, including getting
rid of prejudice, or of our lack of forgiveness, of our love of objects
and things over people, Father Dunham said.

"He was saying, 'Don't let these things be your God,'" Father Dunham said.

So strict was he about changing the order of things that he didn't want
to become a priest, to be superior to anyone, or to have someone be
inferior to him or others. He did his best to shun any form of
hierarchy, even when it came to founding an order, Father Dunham said.

He goes against the order of the world we live in, said Monica Zeballos,
who belongs to the third order, the secular arm of the Franciscans.

"Our world is centered on the having, he was centered on the giving,"
she said of St. Francis. "It is a challenging feat in this world."

In a society that is so strict about hierarchy and one in which people
strive to be and say that they are better than someone else, it's
incredible to find those who would still choose Francis, Zeballos said.
Members of the third order are no less beholden to the Franciscan way of
life, which asks that they seek to help and serve anyone who may need
from them, she said, to be brotherly, detached from the material and to
form community.

You wouldn't think that was subversive, said Father Dunham, but in
Francis' day, and even today, some of Francis' ideas, can still be
considered controversial. It's important to distinguish, however, that
Francis didn't condemn anyone, and he was a brother to all, the poor as
well as the rich, the believers as well as the nonbelievers.

In our day, Pope Francis is embracing the same, Father Dunham said. Just
as Francis chose to be a saint for all, Pope Francis chooses to be a
pope for all, not a pope to the exclusion of others, Father Dunham said.
He's reminding us to form relationships with all, to be a servant to
all, not to condemn but to care for one another.

And that's why so many—Catholic and non-Catholic, believer and
nonbeliever—express a love for Francis, said Father Dunham. The saint
is honored not just by Catholics, but also by Anglicans, who also
follow the order of Francis. Even the nonreligious have expressed a love
for him, Father Dunham said.

Donning the brown robe comes with an understanding of his ideals said
Friar Manuel Aviles, 33, who lives with a Capuchin community in
Washington. At first glance, he said, the medieval dress, the long brown
habit is not one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing to look at
it. But what's beautiful is what it represents and to embrace it with
your heart, he said. They're the vestments of one who begs but not for
money.

"In that sense, we're all begging for something," he said. "We're begging for love, for mercy."

He reminds himself of this as he dons the brown robe each morning.

What would Francis think of all the attention he's getting in the modern world?

"He'd head off to a cave and go into seclusion," said Father Dunham. "He'd say, 'I don't want to be king.'"